Harvard may soon pay $500 million to Massachusetts “workforce and vocational programs” to redress its violation of Jewish students’ civil rights, multiple news outlets report.
In exchange, sources “close to the negotiations” told The New York Times, the Trump administration will unfreeze billions of dollars in federal funding to the university.
Harvard has gone without $2.8 billion in federal grants and contracts since April, when the government determined the university’s prolonged ill-treatment of Jewish students disqualified it from receiving federal funding.
Shortly before the funding freeze, the federal Joint Task Force Combatting Antisemitism warned Harvard:
[Taxpayers’ funding to U.S. colleges and universities] are an investment and, like any investment, are based on the recipient’s performance, not owed as a matter of custom or right.
Harvard sued to get the money back, arguing the Trump administration hadn’t followed proper procedure. But months later, a judge has yet to rule on the case and the crucial funds remain frozen.
The rumored deal requires significant sacrifices on Harvard’s part — but it’s not nearly as stringent as some of the government’s previous proposals.
The university would have to follow federal civil rights and merit-based hiring laws, for instance, but the government reportedly won’t appoint an independent compliance monitor, as previous communications had promised.
News of the negotiations prompted a group of more 14,000 Harvard alumni, students, faculty and members of the public to sign a letter urging the school’s leadership not to “give in.”
But the school may no longer have a choice. It lost substantial bargaining power in late June, when a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) investigation concluded Harvard was in “violent violation” of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
HHS’ findings mirrored Harvard’s own, much-delayed report on campus antisemitism.
The report, which surveyed 477 Jewish and Israeli students and collected thousands of faculty, student and staff experiences via 50 “listening sessions,” found:
- One in four (26%) felt “physically unsafe” at Harvard.
- Half (49%) felt Harvard did not “[support] their wellbeing.”
- More than two-thirds (67%) felt uncomfortable expressing their opinions, and most (73%) felt uncomfortable “expressing their political opinions specifically.”
- Nearly 60% claimed they had “experienced some form of discrimination, stereotyping or negative bias on campus due to [their] views on current events.”
- Three in four (75%) believed there were “academic and professional penalties” for expressing their opinions.
There’s no question in anyone’s mind that Harvard violated the law. Now, school leadership must determine which settlement will be least costly.
Antisemitism exacts a high price from society and from the human soul. The cost of enabling such virulent evil should be similarly exorbitant.
Additional Articles and Resources
Harvard Violated Civil Rights Act, Federal Investigation Concludes
White House Considers Taking Billions from Harvard; Giving to Trade Schools Instead
McMahon to Harvard: No More Federal Grants
Harvard Antisemitism Investigation Reveals Pervasive Mistreatment of Jewish Students
